Cleanskin is a British thriller starring Sean Bean as an agent on the trail of a terrorist cell which is planning an outrage ("cleanskin" is a term meaning that the person being sought is not previously known to the authorities).
The story is solid, and benefits from the fact that the characters are not absolutes: we can see that the terrorists are not without virtue and, similarly, that those who seek to prevent their scheme are not necessarily good people (or, at the least, they are morally compromised). There is some violence which is frequently very graphic, if brief.
I didn't think Bean was very good in this. I appreciated that his character was going through his own problems and that this was probably why he was portrayed as somewhat distracted most of the time: I felt the character needed to be shown as much more tightly focused in view of the importance of what he was doing. Plus the "gruff northerner" meant he was often almost incomprehensible (and as someone who is more than familiar with a Yorkshire accent, that is a real criticism as far as this film moving into a wider market is concerned).
And, without commenting on whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, take away the graphic violence, and this film seemed like an extended TV episode of a BBC MI5 series.
The story is solid, and benefits from the fact that the characters are not absolutes: we can see that the terrorists are not without virtue and, similarly, that those who seek to prevent their scheme are not necessarily good people (or, at the least, they are morally compromised). There is some violence which is frequently very graphic, if brief.
I didn't think Bean was very good in this. I appreciated that his character was going through his own problems and that this was probably why he was portrayed as somewhat distracted most of the time: I felt the character needed to be shown as much more tightly focused in view of the importance of what he was doing. Plus the "gruff northerner" meant he was often almost incomprehensible (and as someone who is more than familiar with a Yorkshire accent, that is a real criticism as far as this film moving into a wider market is concerned).
And, without commenting on whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, take away the graphic violence, and this film seemed like an extended TV episode of a BBC MI5 series.